Lakers assistant head coach Phil Handy spoke with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson of Bally Sports Network about the state of their team heading into the offseason.
A lot of folks poke fun at the Lakers old age, but Handy sees it a different way.
“I think that’s just a misconception of the non-basketball heads,” Handy said. “I call them non-basketball heads because anybody that thinks that we’re old and washed, doesn’t really know much about the game. Basketball has kind of moved to a lot of younger talent; a younger generation, but we got some WISE players on this team. They know their bodies, they know what they can do, they know where they are in their careers and I mean, they can call us washed – we’ll take that but, I think that they’re all ready to go to build their chemistry together.”
Both Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony love to shoot the ball. That’s no secret. However, Handy doesn’t foresee that being. a hindrance to the flow of their offense.
“I mean, they’re basketball players,” Handy said. “They’re both smart. They’re high-level guys with strong IQ’s and I think both of those guys understand and recognize the talent that the other has and they’ve played together before. I know it might have been Olympic settings or All-Star Games but they understand who the other person is and they understand what we’re trying to get accomplished. I don’t see those guys having ANY issues finding their groove together and figuring out how to balance who they are individually.”
More From Los Angeles
- LeBron James played a major role in the Lakers’ offseason moves, including the additions of veterans such as Anthony and Westbrook. LBJ says he has a plan for the new additions. “I always figure it out,” James said (via Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times).
- James went into further detail about his fit with Westbrook (as Woike detailed in the same piece). “As far as Russ, we need Russ to be Russ. We don’t need Russ to change for anybody,” James said. “That’s why we got him. And it’s our job to help him feel comfortable in our system. And he’s going to be as dynamic as he’s always been.”
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Westbrook plans to unleash the best out of Anthony Davis, Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes. Davis seems receptive to that. “I like teammates who are going to push me,” Davis said. “Encouragement — I don’t need encouragement. I want to be pushed. I want guys to tell me when I’m messing up. Me and Russ had numerous conversations in this first practice alone about things we can do together as a duo when we’re both on the floor.”
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